REDDIT EDIT 10/12/11: So I checked out my traffic stats and was pleasantly surprised when I saw a bunch of traffic from Reddit.com. I tracked down the post where it was coming from in the /r/gadget subreddit. There was a load of comments, with some great suggestions for some portable apps I didn’t include in my original article. I’ve read over all the comments and tried out some of the apps you recommended. Here is an updated list of Portable Apps No USB Drive Should Be Without. Updates are highlighted in orangered.

Top USB Drive Applications

Almost everybody I know owns a USB drive these days. Kids in elementary school are carrying them for schoolwork, seniors are keeping their medical records on them at all times and almost everyone at the office carries one on their key chain. While it’s great that these devices are becoming so commonplace, most people who own them are doing themselves a disservice by not taking advantage of the huge library of portable applications that run right off the flash drive, on nearly any computer.

Administration & Developer Tools

SarduCD – Use this to make a boot disk/usb with multiple linux distros and Windows operating systems. (thanks to reddit user, Browsing_From_Work, for the tip)

Knoppix – a Linux distro you can run from your USB drive or from a CD. Great for doing repair work on windows systems. (thanks to reddit user knightfelt)

Nirsoft – another awesome suite of utilities for password recovery, network monitoring, system tools and tweaks. Very useful. (thanks to redditor the sqlguy, great tip)

YUMI – can be used to create a Multiboot USB Flash Drive containing multiple operating systems, antivirus utilities, disc cloning, diagnostic tools, and more. (credit for this one goes to shrapnel09)

Hiren’s BootCD - a suite of useful utilities (all open-source), some work within Windows, others require you to boot your system from CD/USB.

DriverPack Solution – An amazing tool that will detect and install/update drivers for all devices on your system. It saves you a TON of time since you’ll no longer have to go out and search for drivers. This tool uses the freely available DriverPacks – www.driverpacks.net.

HD Tune – Awesome Hard Drive Analysis tool, I highly recommend the Pro version if you have the cash.

Tweak-7/VI/XP – Three great little tools that let you tweak Windows 7, XP or Vista, respectively.

HijackThis – Awesome utility that scans a computer for changes possibly made by malware.

Internet Explorer 8 for Windows XP – Terrible web browser, but you’ll need it if you ever do a repair install on an XP machine that had it installed. After you complete the repair install you’ll log into Windows and get stuck after logging in. Reboot into safe mode and install IE8, then reboot, and then you’ll be fine.

ShellExView – Get sick of programs adding their own entries to your context menus? This program can help you get rid of them.

Angry IP Scanner – Great tool for taking inventory of all devices on your local network.

Edit Pad Pro – a powerful and versatile text editor or word processor. The trial version boasts all the features of the full version (as long as you don’t mind the reminders to upgrade), though the software is well worth the $50 price.notepad2 – Another great text editor, especially for writing code.

Rkill – kill is wonderful when you need to stop viruses from running on a computer.CCleaner – Great tool to run after virus removal to restore your registry.

Trinity Rescue Kit – “CPR for your computer” This is a fully functioning linux distribution that aims specifically at recovery and repair operations on Windows machines, but is equally usable for Linux recovery issues.

USBDeview – Useful utility that lists all USB devices currently installed, and all the USB devices that have been installed on your computer. Very useful for me personally as I work with USB drives often and had thousands of entries in my previously installed list, which I was able to delete with USBDeview. The utility also has other useful tools for running command line scripts whenever a new USB is inserted.

WinMD5Sum – A utility used to verify files. Useful for when transferring files to multiple devices.

This is my blog about anything and everything that sparks my interest. You can look forward to posts about my life, my job at USB Memory Direct and all the other random things I find interesting. Please leave me a comment and tell me what you think, I am always open to suggestions!